Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1987: Interview Survey (ICPSR 9332)

Citation

United States Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1987: Interview Survey. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-01-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09332.v2

Summary

The ongoing Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) provides a
continuous flow of information on the buying habits of American
consumers and also furnishes data to support periodic revisions of the
Consumer Price Index. The survey consists of two separate components:
(1) a quarterly Interview panel survey in which each consumer unit in
the sample is interviewed every three months over a 15-month period,
and (2) a Diary or recordkeeping survey completed by the sample
consumer units for two consecutive one-week periods. The Interview
survey was designed to collect data on major items of expense,
household characteristics, and income. The expenditures covered by the
survey are those that respondents can recall fairly accurately for
three months or longer. In general, these expenditures include
relatively large purchases, such as those for property, automobiles,
and major appliances, or expenditures that occur on a fairly regular
basis, such as rent, utilities, or insurance premiums. Expenditures
incurred while on trips are also covered by the survey. Excluded are
nonprescription drugs, household supplies, and personal care items.
Including global estimates on spending for food, it is estimated that
about 90 to 95 percent of expenditures are covered in the Interview
survey. The Consumer Unit Characteristics and Income (FMLY) files in
this collection contain consumer unit characteristics, consumer unit
income, and characteristics and earnings of both the reference person
and the spouse. Summary expenditure data are also provided. The Member
Characteristics and Income (MEMB) files present selected
characteristics for each consumer unit member, including reference
person and spouse. Each record in the FMLY and MEMB files consists of
three months of data. Detailed Expenditures (MTAB) files provide
monthly data at the Universal Classification Code (UCC) level. In these
files expenditures for each consumer unit are classified according to
UCC categories and are specified as gifts or non-gifts. There may be
more than one record for a UCC in a single month if that is what was
reported to the interviewer. The Income (ITAB) files supply monthly
data at the UCC level for consumer unit characteristics and income.
Parts 21 through 25 of the collection offer consumer durables
information for the following topics: household appliance purchases,
inventory of appliances, vehicle inventory and purchases, vehicle
disposals, and trip characteristics and expenses. Parts 26 and 27 are
files designed for use with the printed publications based on these
data. Part 28 contains Universal Classification Codes and their titles,
Part 29 contains vehicle make and model codes, and Part 30 is the
codebook documenting the study.

Citation

United States Department of Labor. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1987: Interview Survey. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2006-01-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR09332.v2

Geographic Coverage

Time Period(s)

Sample

The CES is based on a national probability sample of
households. Households are selected from primary sampling units (PSUs),
which consist of counties (or parts thereof), groups of counties, or
independent cities. The set of sample PSUs used for the survey is
composed of 109 areas, of which 91 urban areas have also been selected
by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the Consumer Price Index program.
The sampling frame from which housing units were selected was generated
from the 1980 Census 100 percent detail file, augmented by new
construction permits and coverage improvement techniques used to
eliminate recognized deficiencies in that census. The sample design is
a rotating panel survey in which one-fifth of the sample is dropped and
a new group added each quarter. Each panel is interviewed for five
consecutive quarters and then dropped from the survey.

Universe

Data Source

Data Type(s)

Original Release Date

Version Date

Version History

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 33 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 31 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 32 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 30 and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all downloads.

1990-04-20 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Standardized missing values.

Notes

Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions.

This study is provided by ICPSR. ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for a diverse and expanding social science research community.